Despite planned Israeli offensive on Gaza, talks back on the table
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L'Orient-Le Jour
3 hours ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Ankara, Damascus top diplomats warn Israel over Syria action
Turkey's foreign minister and his Syrian counterpart on Wednesday warned Israel not to stir up chaos in Syria and demanded an end to all external interventions aimed at destabilising the war-torn country. "Certain actors are bothered by the positive developments in Syria," Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said after talks with Syria's Asaad al-Shaibani in Ankara, referring to Israel and Kurdish YPG fighters operational in northeastern Syria. "Israel is currently one of the biggest actors in this dark picture," he said of its ongoing military incursions since the overthrow of Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad late last year. "The emergence of chaos in Syria... appears to have become a priority for Israel's own national security," he said. Standing next to him, Shaibani also warned against efforts to foster chaos in Syria. "We're facing new challenges that are no less dangerous than those we encountered during the years of war, foremost among them are repeated Israeli threats... through airstrikes," he said. Fidan said efforts to destabilise Syria could be clearly seen in the March bloodshed in the coastal Alawite heartland of Latakia and in the recent deadly violence that gripped the southwestern Druze-majority province of Sweida, as well as in the Kurdish-dominated northeast. "The events in Latakia and Sweida and the failure to integrate the YPG [into the Syrian state] are evidence of the challenges and obstacles facing the positive process underway," he said. Shaibani said foreign actors were exacerbating the unrest within Syria. "We are also confronting multiple foreign interventions, both direct and indirect ... [that] push the country toward sectarian and regional strife," he said without giving details but warning against "any reckless attempts to exploit events here". During the war, Assad's government was backed by Russia, Iran and its Lebanon-based militant ally Hezbollah. Fidan said the YPG, part of the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led SDF but seen by Ankara as an extension of the PKK militant group, remained a concern over its refusal to integrate into the Syrian state despite a March agreement to do so. The PKK, which fought a decades-long insurgency against Ankara, is currently in the throes of disbanding as part of a peace agreement with the Turkish government. "We have not seen any developments that indicate the organisation has eliminated the threat of armed action," nor sent home the foreign fighters in its ranks, he said. "In an environment where Turkey's security demands remain unmet, we have no chance of remaining calm," he warned.
L'Orient-Le Jour
3 hours ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Israeli army says approved plan for new Gaza offensive
The Israeli military said on Wednesday it had approved the framework for a new offensive in the Gaza Strip, as Hamas condemned what it called "aggressive" Israeli ground incursions in Gaza City. The approval for the expanded offensive comes days after Israel's security cabinet called for the seizure of Gaza's largest city, following 22 months of war that have created dire humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territory. Israeli armed forces chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir "approved the main framework for the Israeli army's operational plan in the Gaza Strip," a statement released by the army said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has not provided a precise timetable for when Israeli troops will enter Gaza City, where thousands have taken refuge after fleeing previous offensives. Ismail al-Thawabta, director general of the Hamas government media office in Gaza, told AFP on Wednesday that "the Israeli occupation forces continue to carry out aggressive incursions in Gaza City." "These assaults represent a dangerous escalation aimed at imposing a new reality on the ground by force, through a scorched-earth policy and the complete destruction of civilian property," he added. Sabah Fatoum, 51, who lives in a tent in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City, told AFP by phone that "the strikes are massive" in the area. There are "many air strikes and tanks are advancing in the southern area of Tal al-Hawa with drones above our heads," she said. "The tanks are still there, and I saw dozens of civilians fleeing" to the west of the city, she added. Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes on Gaza City have intensified in recent days, with the residential neighbourhoods of Zeitoun and Sabra hit "with very heavy air strikes targeting civilian homes, possibly including high-rise buildings." Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Israeli strikes or fire had killed at least 35 people across Gaza on Wednesday. 'Just escaped death' AFP footage from Gaza City on Tuesday showed Palestinians fleeing Israeli strikes on the Zeitoun and Asqoola using overladen carts, vans and bikes. "I didn't bring a mattress or anything, we just escaped death, now we're running away and we don't know where to go," said displaced Palestinian Fidaa Saad. Israel's plans to expand its offensive into Gaza City come as diplomacy aimed at securing an elusive cease-fire and hostage release deal has stalled for weeks, after the latest round of negotiations broke down in July. Egypt said Tuesday it was working with fellow Gaza mediators Qatar and the United States to broker a 60-day truce "with the release of some hostages and some Palestinian detainees, and the flow of humanitarian and medical assistance to Gaza without restrictions, without conditions". Hamas said early Wednesday that a senior delegation had arrived in Cairo for "preliminary talks" with Egyptian officials. Israel's plans to expand the Gaza war have sparked international outcry as well as domestic opposition. Reserve and retired pilots who served in the Israeli air force on Tuesday rallied in Tel Aviv to demand an end to the conflict. "This war and expansion will only cause the death of the hostages, death of more Israeli soldiers, and death of many more innocent Palestinians in Gaza," said Guy Poran, a former Israeli air force pilot. Dire conditions U.N.-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in the territory, where Israel has drastically curtailed the amount of humanitarian aid it allows in. The health ministry in Gaza says at least 235 people, including 106 children, have been killed by Israel's blockade since the war began in October 2023, with many cases recorded in recent weeks. Netanyahu on Tuesday revived calls to "allow" Palestinians to leave Gaza, telling Israeli broadcaster i24NEWS that "we are not pushing them out, but we are allowing them to leave." Israel's war on Gaza has killed at least 61,722 Palestinians, according to figures from the health ministry in Gaza, which the United Nations considers reliable.
L'Orient-Le Jour
3 hours ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Aoun receives NGO proposal to grant Lebanese women the right to pass citizenship
BEIRUT — President Joseph Aoun received a proposal on Wednesday from a delegation of the 'My Nationality is My Right and My Family's Right' campaign for a law granting Lebanese women who are married to non-Lebanese men the right to give Lebanese nationality to their children "within limits specified by the law." During the reception of the proposal at the Baabda Palace, which was announced on the presidency's official X account, the director of the campaign, Karima Chebbo, quoted by local news website al-Nashra, expressed hope that Aoun would assist in passing a draft law that would amend a nationality law dating from 1925, which prevents Lebanese women from passing on the Lebanese nationality to their children. According to Chebbo, the campaign began in Lebanon in 2003 and has since expanded to several Arab countries. The NGO is in coordination with a number of states, she explained, "to achieve justice and equality between men and women." The campaign "does not target anyone," she said, as quoted by al-Nashra, "but rather aims to ensure fairness for Lebanese mothers married to foreigners and reduce the negative social and familial consequences resulting from the law that has been in effect for the past 100 years." Despite decades of active campaigning, activists have never seen a breakthrough on this issue. There is no shortage of political pretexts, revolving mainly around "demographic" fears, supposedly linked to the fear of the settlement of Palestinians who have been refugees in Lebanon since 1948 and Syrians who fled the war in their country following its outbreak in 2011. For children born to Lebanese mothers and residing in Lebanon, this situation is a source of much suffering, as they continue to be considered foreigners.
